Reviving the Soldiers of Halla
by Zeoniu Zekial Kal Leos
Summary: The war with Saint Dane had come to a close. The technical victory belonged to the Travelers. But the results were too much to deal with, and the last surviving Traveler decided to set things right... and endanger all of Halla once again.
1. Chapter 1

A/N This is a story I started a while back and posted up at the official Pendragon Adventure fanfic forum. I haven't updated it in months and haven't really given it any thought in that time, either. I figured it should see the light of day again, and what better place to do that than here? You can read the original topic by searching by other account name of CyNebula in the fanfic forum.

The story was written prior to book 10 being released and as such I had to come up with my own theory for the existence of the Travelers and Saint Dane, so on and so forth. Essentially they are the collective embodiment of both good and evil energy from the ten territories and the universe, respectively. One side drains as the other grows stronger and upsets the precious balance

With that explained ahead of time, without further ado, the first chapter.

My name is Bobby Pendragon. Last Traveler of the ten territorys of Halla. I've wrote down all that has happened to me in journals over the years, save for the final confrontation with the enemy we have been fighting for all of time, Saint Dane. I find myself unable to describe the events that led me to the present.. or at least this apparition of it. But I can say this much... We called ourselves the Soldiers of Halla in the end, instead of just Travelers, and like true soldiers, lined up for the slaughter to save all that ever was.

I've learned all the secrets to being a Traveler, and killed off Saint Dane as he was known to us... but I know he'll be back some day. Perhaps not under that same name, but the negative energy will always exist, gathering across Halla until the demon reforms somewhere in time. But I don't care about that: I'll end him then just as I learned to before. No, I write this... I suppose 'note' will be accurate enough, as the prologue to a new story in my life.

I'm going to go back and set things right. The Soldiers of Halla won't die to restore Hallas positive balance, undoing the damage wrecked leading up to the final battle. Saint Dane and Nevva Winter are no longer the only ones who can travel through space _and time_. It may be a slight to Uncle Presses memory, but this time, I'm fighting just the same as that demon Traveler and his disciple. The laws no longer apply. ~ Bobby Pendragon, December 16th 5009, Third Earth.

**Journal #51**

After writing that previous note and storing it in the vault where the rest of my Journals had been moved prior to the final showdown, I returned to the flume of Third Earth and took one final look around, trying to determine if what I was about to do was going to be worth it. A split second later, as my eyes glanced down to the ten rings resting in my open right palm, each rings symbols glowing together and representing the restored Halla, and I had my answer. "I've made a lot of bad choices. But that's all over now." I said, closing my eyes and remembering for a few moments. With a weary sigh I approached the mouth of the tunnel that stretched not to just infinity in terms of space, but all across time itself.

I carefully slipped nine of the rings back onto the white twine around my neck, securing it in place before slipping my own travelers ring back onto my finger. It felt right wearing it again. "Eelong." I declared firmly, the time frame I was planning on arriving at in the forefront of my mind. The flume rumbled and groaned as white light began to form far in the distance but growing ever closer, though the familiar jumble of sweet musical notes was replaced by a deep, ocean lapping like hum. I've learned time is fluid, and that sound is all I need to confirm my intentions worked.

The slight tug I knew would come was slower, but when it did it was far more powerful, jerking me forward as though I was being dragged into a full-force hurricane. The next thing I knew I was passing through the flume as images, far more static and firm, appeared on all sides. As I rode along the images seemed to continue on forever. I could see every moment of Eelongs history, from its very first origins to its eventual fall into darkness and self-destruction millions, perhaps billions of years after I had first landed there.

I concentrated on the memories of just about the first time I landed on Eelong, right after Veeloxs loss. The images began to fade out until only those pertaining to my own time spent on the territory remained. I reached out a stray hand, the one baring my ring, and touched the one I needed. The hum receded and the usual jangle of sweet notes replaced it, the images fading out all together until just the stars appeared beyond and around me.

A few minutes later and the music grew low, light starting to recede as the flume ride neared its end. I gently landed on my toes and rolled, managing to come out of the tunnel right into the roots that I had first tangled with. I could feel a slight pull and felt the emotions and memories of the Bobby Pendragon that had appeared in the same position, in the same time frame originally, fade into the current me. It was a rush, but after-wards I felt a little fatigued. "Man, does that happen every time you're trying to exist on a territory at the same time?" I questioned, actually unsure.

I shook my head to clear it and pushed through the roots, knowing what to expect. Shortly I was staring at the rags that qualified as gar cloths, and the neatly folded outfit Gunny was wearing when the old me had last seen him in this time frame. It brought with it memories I didn't need to deal with right now and I struggled to suppress them again. A lone tear escaped and rolled down my cheek before I could succeed. I pushed forward after a minute and worked my way through and up towards the exit of the flume-baring room, not worried in the slightest about my outfit and looks. I guess I should have mentioned how I've changed recently, though.

I'm a little taller at 6' 3'' now. My hairs got a few streaks of gray in it near the base, but that's to be expected from the stress. My looks haven't really changed beyond that, aside from the occasional dark-matter scar left behind as a last memento from Saint Dane. My clothing, on the other hand, is the most different. I've taken on a couple of different outfits to suit the mood of battle at that point in time, prime among them is the suit of that Zetlin guy from Veelox, the life-light inventor. Yeah, the yellow shades too. The effect just left an impression of power to it that felt right when coupled with my height and physique. A slash or two cut across Zetlins suit, but nothing major.

My secondary choice is a good old fashioned second earth brown windbreaker over a dark green short sleeve shirt tucked into a pair of blue jeans and black belt, with ultra comfy white sneakers. What can I say? One's reserved for bad-ass, the other for comfort. Right now I'm wearing the Zetlin suit.

Anyway, thats what I look like now, so back to what took place. "Last time I had to escape a tang and some quigs. This time I'm going to tear that beast to shreds if it so much as sniffs at me wrong." I vowed, slipping my head out into the bright and hot light. Sure enough, there stood the tang, finishing off the remnants of a human arm loudly. The powerful odor it emitted floated over to me and I grimaced, just as repulsed by the incident this time as I was the first.

But apparently I took too long thinking on that, as the tang swallowed the last bite and licked at its bloodstained teeth before noticing my head sticking out of the hole in the tree. The odor increased strongly as it hissed eagerly and eyed me with much interest. I pushed the rest of the way out and faced it, my body tensing up briefly before become pale white and mist like. When I finished shape-shifting, I had assumed the form of the giant quig-bears of Denduron. I never will know if Saint Dane could do so, but I'd imagine so considering his raven form.

With a loud roar I stalked forward, claws tearing into the ground with every step I made. The tang hissed in agitation and it stepped back, baring its vicious teeth. I roared again, baring my own mouthful of far larger razor sharp teeth, then charged. The tang hissed one final time before turning tail and bolting in the other direction away from me. With a last deep glare at the green raptor-like beast, my body once more became white mist and shrunk, reforming into how I was before.

"Time to find my way back into Leeandra and teach Saint Dane a few reasons why killing off all the others before me, just to gloat, was a very bad move." I muttered softly, once more struggling against the surge of emotions thinking about the others caused. I was able to get going a few minutes later.

_/pause Journal #51._


	2. Chapter 2

**Journal #51** continued.

I decided it would be better for me to enter the city looking like a klee than a fancily dressed gar. I didn't want to disrupt the way things were meant to be by causing a civil revolution here and now. Maybe save it for when Ravinia decided to stick its ugly head up on Second Earth? Yeah, I'm still getting over that one.

It cost me Mark and Courtney originally. You know that old saying, 'the end justifies the means?' yeah, well, whoever thought that line of junk up should try wearing my shoes for a while and see if it still applies! If I were to step back onto Second Earth and say hi to Mark, he wouldn't have one iota of a clue who I was.

I can see fate, murphy even if it goes by that name, smirking down on me from wherever it resides. 'Congrats, Pendragon! You destroyed the vile Saint Dane and saved the universe, all of Halla itself! Your reward? Knowing the truth! Say goodbye to all your non-Traveler friends, bytheway. No one remembers you.' Gee thanks!

Man, I'm really getting offtrack. Sorry. My emotions are still swaying a little here, a little there. I've got a lot of anger built up for Saint Dane and his plans. I'm really itching for Quillan, however. Challenger Red? Oh yeah, I'm going to dominate those idiots and their dados.

Aw, I did it again... right, enough stray thoughts, back to the point: I transformed again, my body taking on the size and shape of a slightly above average klee. Snow white fur, a few black stripes, icy blue eyes, black outfit. Can you guess what I just imitated? I've seen jaguar-like klees, lion-like klees, and I'm pretty sure leopard-print-klees too. Oh my! But a white tiger? Or even a bengal tiger? Nuh-uh.

I guess I've developed a sense of pride. I want to look good if I'm going to have to relive this nightmare! Anyhow I got into a pretty fluid run on all fours when I noticed some actual klees ahead. Low and behold, who should it be, but Kasha and her buddy's out foraging.

I smiled. I'd love to lay into Durgen for what that creep did to me, but that would be petty. Not even slowing I decided the tangs here didn't deserve any mercy, not after the ambush that hit me and the others in a couple of days, or was it a week or so? I've kind of suppressed those memories, but it doesn't matter. The ambush the tangs pulled off got me onto Durgens radar.

Normally rushing ahead gets me into a lot of trouble. This time, it would get those tangs into a lot of trouble. I shot right past the klees watching Kasha wrestle with one. In my mind I hammered out the plan: Get running too fast to be seen fully, transform one paw into, say, a quig-bears, slash off tangs head, return paw and land gracefully. Cue the fanfare as the klees go wild!

"Hey!" "What are you doing!" two of the ones watching on shouted at me as they finally took notice of the white shape charging a tang unarmed. Kasha turned her head to look at them and saw me leap. She also caught my right hand shifting into a massive claw. Her hands went slack on the end of the rope and the tang turned to me, opening its jaw wide and growling.

I growled right back at it as my newly assumed claw literally ripped through the top of its jaw and head, cutting it off from the bottom of its mouth and above. As soon as my claws cleared the back of its head they were shifting right back into the normal sized klee paw-hand.

I landed a little off as the transformation wasn't finished yet, but I managed to turn my crash into a roll, coming up facing the others. The tangs body twitched a couple of times before going slack, blood erupting from the remnants of its head, and it fell to the ground in a bloody heap.

The others were looking at me with something like stunned disbelief. Kashas eyes had followed my hand and were staring at it intently, very wide-eyed. I smiled at her. "The only good tangs a dead one. Anyone else heading for Leeandra or am I the only one?" I asked in a mildly amused tone, but my voice was deep, almost rumbling as I spoke.

As I expected, Durgen was the first to speak up. "What were you thinking! You could have got yourself, or more importantly, Kasha killed!" a moment later he looked me over. "Where do you come from?" he asked suspiciously.

Uh-oh. Where was this going? "Over the hills and through the woods." I supplied cryptically. Durgen narrowed his eyes. "Now I remember why you looked familiar." he said slowly, reaching down for that silver saw-blade disk launcher. His eyes turned the same chilling ice-like blue as Saint Danes for a few moments and he seemed to smile at me for a split-second.

That same second he launched the saw-blade disk. I barely saw it reflecting light before it was coming at my head! I've always said what a wonderful thing instinct is. It can save your life where stopping to think about something can get you killed.

I threw myself back, narrowly avoiding it decapitating me, instead getting a small slice across the cheek. Man does that burn! As blood leaked out from the wound I pushed back to my feet to see another one coming at me! This time I was ready for it. I knew to expect another one if things were going as I expected them to.

In my hand was the same metal bar that the Rokador on Zadaa used, materialized as needed. I slammed that disk straight up and looked him in the eyes. "Impressive." he grunted. "So what brings you back here?" I responded, testing the waters to see if he would respond. "Oh, you know why." he mouthed, but aloud said "A suspicion that turned out to be wrong. The klee I thought you were could never move that fast. Lets get a move on before some more tangs start showing up for this one." he responded simply, pointing at the body of the tang I had killed.

I knew now that I had made a big mistake after-all. Apparently Saint Dane didn't like whatever I'm going to do to him. I'm guessing this is the one from Ravinia. He wouldn't risk going back until just before our final match up on Third Earth, that much I've figured out about him. Nevva, on the other hand, might do so at any point in time for her master.

_/pause Journal #51_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Journal #51** continued.

Man, I thought I was leaving my mistakes behind me when I traveled from Third Earth. Guess what? I was only insuring Saint Dane got a 1-Up for the fate of Halla! They say terrible things happen to those that mess with time. That saying needs a revision: Terrible things happen to the good guys that mess with time.

Lemme back track a little, though, before I get too far ahead of myself here. Durgen, Kasha, myself, and a couple of other Klees were on our way to Leeandra. The cut on my cheek was still burning, and I couldn't just heal it with the others still around. No doubt Durgen was enjoying even this little amount of torture he could inflict on me.

Kasha hadn't said anything, but from the look in her eyes, I think she was beginning to doubt what she had seen. She was still checking out my hand, but with a sort of frown. I desperately wanted to talk to her alone and try to heed off the whole load of trouble she caused my efforts the first time around and quite likely will this time, too.

Again, Durgens presence and that of the other two is preventing me from doing so. Speaking of Tweedledee and Tweedledum... they had been talking quietly among one another ever since we started moving, but now they sped up so they were on either side of me. "What did you think you were doing, charging a Tang like that??" the one on my left, a kind of sand-tan fur-coloring to him and wearing a green outfit.

"I knew I could kill it. Simple as that." I responded. He scoffed, if a Klee can scoff that is. Certainly sounded like he was scoffing, at any rate. "I've never heard of a Klee just killing a Tang bare-clawed before." he stated in a suspicious tone. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Well now you have. Any more questions?" I asked, slipping just a hint of sarcasm into my tone.

He narrowed his eyes, sensing an insult in there but just not quite up to the challenge of finding it. "How did you do it?" he asked after several seconds of silence. I hadn't actually expected that. Way-to-go, Bobby! Thinking quickly, I threw out my best response: "My master taught me how." Not technically true, considering I picked it up off Saint Dane.

"Huh? What was his name?" Before I could growl out an answer, Durgen cut in. "That's enough. If you keep pestering him, _you_ might be on the receiving end of the same attack." he said, and I could see the cold dare in his eyes to do it, and further amusement when I just glared back. He was enjoying this!

Nevertheless, they backed off. The rest of the way to Leeandra was mostly without conflict or anything, though there were a couple of close calls with a wandering Tang trailing after us.

Durgen trailed behind the others with me, dismissing them, though he had to order Kasha ahead to the big meeting I had watched last time with Boon. Once they were gone he turned to me and his eyes once more flashed icy-blue for a moment. He stood up on his hind paws and I followed him up, crossing my arms across my chest.

"So, Pendragon, what brings you back here? Not satisfied killing me the first time around?" he asked with an amused tone to his voice. Uh-oh. "How do you know about that?" I demanded. He chuckled. "To tell you, or not to tell you..." he trailed off, a thoughtful expression on his face. I growled.

"Careful, Pendragon. Attacking a forager is treason. I could have you executed." he mocked. I admit it, that pissed me off royally. Probably more so than it should have. I considered for a moment just going at him, and getting the whole public execution thing only to reform as mist, go for the 'awe the public' effect, but then realized he'd find a way to slip some dark matter into it and _literally_ kill me. Not good. Turning away, I took several deep breaths to calm down.

"Not going to fall for it, huh?" Durgen questioned. "No." I responded simply. "Too bad." he stated, extending his claws and, in that instant, I saw two possibilities: A. he wounds himself and blames it on me, or B. he trys to wound me. Possibly both. I moved forward to try and stop him, willing to take the blow if it stopped him from doing the former, but...

With a shout of pain he raked his claws across his face and down his chest, drawing blood. Pretty deep wounds, too, atleast an inch in. He staggered slightly as the guards at the gate rushed forward, attracted by the shouts, and took in the scene before them: Two Klees, one a known and respected forager, the other never seen before. The former deeply wounded with claw marks, the latter just fine. The latter in the face of the other. No tangs around.

Rocket scientists they ain't. I've got no blood on my own paws, but hey, since when did something like that prevent anyone from getting shafted by the system? The next thing I knew Durgen was dropping like a sack of potatoes and a duo of saw-blade disks were coming for my head.

I threw myself down and to the side, barely missing one but taking the other to my shoulder. YOWCH!! Let me write that again, _YOWCH_!! Word of advise: Never come to Eelong. The pain distracted me at a time when I couldn't afford to be distracted.

Two more blades made contact, one only just slicing through my side, while the other drove itself into my arm. I howled. Thankfully, they were out by then, but whats this? Durgens got a spare!

Hurrah!

Hazy with pain, I threw myself down on all fours and charged back out into the jungle, but not before the last saw-blade disk hit home. The last thing I remembered was rushing at an angle towards a set of dense trees, and then blackness.

_/end Journal #51_.


	4. Chapter 4

*** Second Earth ***

Courtney Chetwynde started the day off feeling overall better than she had in years, but a feeling of sadness was there as well, in the background, like a song you just can't forget the tune to.

Nevertheless, she got changed into her usual pre- school morning attire, a gray tank-top and shorts, with a pair of white running shoes, then headed down stairs for a brief jog to keep in shape. Her parents and brother were still sleeping this early, around six AM.

Bringing only her spare set of keys to the front door and a bottle of water, she slipped outside into the cool air and started off at a light pace. Within a few minutes she amped it up, all the while trying to figure out what she had to be sad about.

'Its not like anyone I knows died lately.' she thought, frowning. 'No pets either, for that matter. So whats up?' she questioned silently. But no answers were forthcoming. With a sigh she once more tried to put it from her mind and just enjoy the jog.

As she passed Two Linden Place, she paused without knowing why, looking over the ordinary white two-story house with its white picket fenced in yard. As her eyes looked it over, a feeling of wrongness echoed in her near the same place as the sadness was coming from. She shivered and turned away, shaking her head.

"Whats going on with me today?" she demanded, looking up at the slowly lightening dawn. But still, no answers came to her, no sudden dawning realization. She risked another glance at the home, a single light coming on inside and the window blind being drawn back.

A young girl peered out, and Courtney began jogging again, heading away before anyone else inside started questioning why someone was staring at their home at the crack of dawn.

* * *

When Mark Dimond woke up later that morning, he felt.. odd. Overall refreshed, if you will, yet with a nagging sadness about something he couldn't really place. It was strange, and he didn't know why, but it felt like he should know exactly why.

After sliding his glasses on and glancing at the clock, he let out a yelp, realizing he had failed to set his alarm the night before.

In a flurry of movement, he threw back his bed sheets, dived into his drawers, and let out a low whine that grew in pitch as he progressed through each rapidly. What remained in there were cloths that hadn't seen the light of day in at least two years, scrunched up at the back.

Turning towards the closet, he abandoned the drawers entirely and rushed forward. "Come on... come on, I've got to have something in here!" he murmured hopefully, throwing the door open. He was buried beneath a wave of semi-dirty laundry that he _now_ remembered was stuffed there the previous night after his mom ordered him to clean up the mess in his room.

It was, all and all, something he had intended to deal with _today_ after-school. Dragging himself out from beneath the also semi-smelly clothes, he briefly considered the junk in his drawers for a moment. "Nun-uh, not happening." he stated flatly, turning back to and digging through his laundry, looking for something that smelled the least while still looking okay.

Five minutes later he was dressed and dragging his backpack down stairs, briefly hopping as he finished tying one shoe. "Where are _you_ going?" his mother asked from the stove as he dashed inside the kitchen, heading for the fridge. He paused to look at her in question and said "Um, school??" "Mark, its _saturday_." she told him with an exasperated sigh.

Mark blinked rapidly in succession, then said simply "Oh." and turned to head back upstairs and drop his backpack off. His mother watched him go with a worried look.

* * *

By the time Mark was getting up, Courtney was at home trying to watch TV. The feelings from before were still present and just left her feeling... wrong. Like something was just wrong with the world, that she had lost something of vital importance in her life and it was on the distant edges of her memories, trying to get back to her.

She reached for the remote and flipped the TV off, realizing she was getting no where fast with it. Her parents were out and only her brother was still here. She could hear his music seeping through the walls faintly. A couple of notes made her start and glance in the direction she heard them, not even knowing why.

"I think I'm losing my mind." she muttered, frowning again as the same couple of notes reached her. With a sigh she pushed off her bed and snagged her main set of keys, slipping into her running shoes again, though wearing a more casual outfit then before.

As she left her room she banged on the door to her brothers room and shouted "I'm heading out, I'll be back later!" and made for the front door quickly as the musical notes began repeating again.

* * *

Mark returned to the kitchen and fished a couple of carrots out of the fridge, already peeled and chopped. Sitting down at the kitchen table he waited for his mom to finish breakfast and let his mind wander. As it did, the strange sense of sadness made itself known stronger.

His mothers worries increased as Mark frowned, intently in thought on why he was feeling this way. Turning from the stove, she said "Something on your mind?" Mark looked up at her slowly. "Has anyone died recently?" he asked. "Why would you ask that??" she questioned in turn, eye brows raising.

"I can't get rid of this feeling that something bad happened recently. Its really getting to me." he answered slowly, then glanced back to the stove. "Foods burning." he noted softly. She spun back to the stove and pulled the frying pan away with a low murmur, setting it down by the sink.

"Its probably just a leftover feeling from your dreams, Mark." his fathers voice added his opinion from the doorway, stepping in with a yawn. "Maybe." he responded. His mother sighed and dragged the pan towards the trash. "Whoa, whoa, you aren't going to throw that away, are you?" his father yelped, stepping forward and snatching the still hot pieces off one at a time. "I don't mind my bacon extra crispy." he noted, reaching for a nearby plate and dropping them off on it.

His mother rolled her eyes at his antics, but said nothing about it, instead setting the pan back down on the stove and reaching over to the radio. "Here, some music might get your mind off of things, Mark." she said, turning it on and adjusting the dial.

A strange series of notes jumbled forth from it, making him freeze as he listened to them, ignoring the lyrics that followed shortly there after. They repeated after a few seconds, and he began humming the tune slowly, dragging the song out. He started putting notes not heard in the song into his hum, changing its flow and sound.

"Thats pretty catchy, Mark. Thinking about a remix?" his father asked, amused. Mark glanced at them again, the modified song dying in his throat. "Uh.. I'm going for a walk, guys.. I-I'll see you l-l-later!" he stammered, embarrassed and not knowing why. The notes were ringing familiar to him, and not just the ones in that song, or solely the ones _he_ had added to it, but the mix of them together.

His parents watched him hightail it out the front door. "... Strange." his father said, shaking his head as he picked up a piece of bacon. His mother was still worried.

* * *

Both teens nearly ran into one another. Mark was so focused on humming the tune once more, making sure he was getting it right, and Courtney with her eyes down likewise engrossed in thought about things, that if she had not heard the sound coming from him in time to come to a complete stop, they would have collided.

Instead he walked right by her. She swiveled her head around to follow his, the tune he was humming attracting her attention. "Hey!" she finally shouted when he was nearly a dozen feet away. Mark stopped and turned to her. "Huh?" he asked.

"T-that tune... where'd you hear that at?" she questioned, still not moving. Mark stared at her. "I... don't know." he answered hesitantly. Courtney noticed the address behind Mark and realized something _was_ off: Two Linden Place. "Do I know you?" she asked slowly.

Mark shook his head, but felt like he was lying for some reason. "I-I-I don't think w-we've ever met." he stammered. 'What is wrong with me today!?' he shouted mentally.

"I know I've seen you before." she stated, stepping closer. "U-uh..." he trailed off. A car driving by honked the horn and the driver shouted for them to get out of the middle of the road. Both jumped.

"S-see you a-a-around!" Mark yelped and ran off in the direction he had been heading in, moving to the sidewalk. Courtney watched him go with the feeling that she should follow.

_/end Second Earth_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Journal #52**

So many things have happened since I left that cliff-hanger in my previous journal that I'm finding it hard to keep everything in the right order, but I'll try.

After feeling the sharp pain of one last saw-blade disk striking home, my system was overwhelmed and I blacked out. When I woke up some time later, I wished I was back in the gar-holding cell from my first time through. In a nearly pitch-black six-by-six jail-cell, I was chained to a wall and stripped down to a pathetic and bland gray loin cloth. The disks had been removed, although the wounds left behind were still there, and hadn't been cleaned or anything.

It was with a slight panic that I then noticed something else of much value: the white twine I wrapped around my neck that carried the other travelers rings was missing.

_Someone else had them_.

With a low growl I began to change into mist and escape my bonds... except nothing happened. I remained held as I was. A quick glance at the shackles sent a tingle of fear racing along my spine, because glinting in the dim light was a tiny gray stone I knew well; dark matter, the substance that makes up the flumes, and the only thing capable of truly killing Saint Dane or myself.

How is simple enough, really. It neutralizes our powers, rendering either of us as human as Mark or Courtney. That meant I wasn't going anywhere, any time soon, but also that I was stuck in this form and at the mercy of my captures.

I managed to calm my breathing down and close my eyes in an attempt to get the panic under control before it could grow any further. I don't like admitting this, but it took a lot longer than I would have preferred after all this time. When I finally opened my eyes again I took the time to get a better understanding of my surroundings.

There were three walls and where the fourth should have been was a series of bars. Kind of like back home on Second Earth, but these were glowing with a low yellow light, which is what I was using to see with. Electricity, or Eelongs equivalent of it, probably.

At any-rate, there were quite a few of them, no more than half an inch thick, but stretching from floor to ceiling, which begs the question: How the heck did they get me in here in the first place? The bars dimmed slightly for a few moments then lit up again to full capacity. My attention, and curiosity, was diverted as I heard a low, pitiful whine ahead of me.

Looking further past the bars, I could dimly see an actual Klee in similar conditions to my own! I frowned as best as I could, suddenly realizing something. Kasha had once said that the place I was kept was not a prison. Prisons were for Klees.

I don't know what you get for attempted murder of a forager, but I suspected imprisonment for a long duration was likely, especially with the story Saint Dane would spin.

The guy across from me whined louder, and I heard another couple of keening pitches join in. What was going on? Should I try starting up a conversation? Sure, why not. "Hey." I called across to him, but he ignored me, keeping up with the whine.

Fine, two can play that way. I was about to start up my own low volume whine, when a pair of rough voices echoed down to us. "Listen to them! Trying to make themselves sound pathetic." it had a familiar male tone to it. "Ofcourse! Like we would let them anywhere near the exits." responded another male tone.

A few moments later and two Klees appeared. Guess who? Come on, really, guess. _Tweedledee_ and _Tweedledum_. Part-time foragers, part-time prison guards? So it would seem. They were wearing silver tunics, but otherwise looked no different then before.

Actually, I never wrote what Tweedledum looked like, so here's a brief overview; gray mangy fur, narrow eyes, semi-permanent scowl. Anyhow...

They stopped and turned to face the Klee across from me, checking him out, and despite hearing what was said before, he kept up the whine. Tweedledee shook his head. "Not even worth the effort. He'll hardly provide any amusement." he growled.

Tweedledum nodded his head in agreement. I expected them to say something to me, but they just continued walking without even so much as a glance. Maybe they would come back after having a look-see at the others? After all they skipped the ones on my right, who were still whining, although the one ahead of me had stopped once they left.

To my left I heard the two murmuring together and then some kind of fizzling. The whining from down there suddenly became panicked shouting and I heard the amused chuckling of those two echo out loudly before the shouting was cut off. What was going on here??

Nearly a minute later they passed my cell again, dragging the now unconscious victim behind by his front paws. Again, they ignored me entirely. Once the sounds of their foot steps retreated I waited several more minutes to be sure, than tried talking to the Klee across from me.

"Hey!" he barely glanced up at me. Taking that as a success, I tried asking him about what had just happened, where we were, so on and so forth. He just stared at me blankly throughout. I let out a frustrated growl. From somewhere to my left a loud-whisper echoed off the walls to me, "You're better off not knowing." No, actually, I'm not!

_/pause Journal #52_.


	6. Chapter 6

**Journal #52** continued.

I tried to keep track of the time I was kept in there, but it was nearly impossible with no daylight to help. I had to mentally tick off seconds, to minutes, to hours, and so on and so forth. Pretty soon I found it easier, grim though this may sound, to count off the time in-between Tweedledee and Tweedledum dropping in.

I managed to eventually hammer out four days, give or take a few hours. I learned how they got me in here, by the way. The guards carry some kind of tool, a small gray octagonal stone. After inserting it into a locking mechanism outside the cells, they rotate the stone around, drawing the bars into the ceiling. The bars lose their yellow glow with a light fizzle as they are drawn upwards.

They only did this when feeding time came around, or when they drag someone off to that unknown fate. Did I mention we're only fed once every three days, and no Klee I've seen taken returns? Yeah, _that's_ a real morale booster.

The stuff we're given has the consistency of rubber, with the taste of watery gruel, but the worst of it is that the bright green coloring is making me seriously wonder what this gunk is. I only hope my suspicion is dead-wrong.

At any rate, for nearly three weeks I was kept in my cell, being completely ignored save for feeding time, and even then they didn't even look at me head-on, only out of the corner of their eyes. I tried to refuse my food last time, but they just wrenched my mouth open and shoveled it in, nearly choking me in the process!

I repeat: _Do not travel to Eelong_. Avoid it like the plague.

Like I said, I was here for nearly three weeks. I think I was the last guy in this sector at the moment. The suspense had been driving me up a wall, and I was wondering if Saint Dane was ordering them to do this just to unnerve me. If he was, it was working!

Eventually the two came down here and glanced into every cell but mine before each gave a resigned sigh and approached my own cell. Tweeldedum drew the stone out from beneath his tunic, tugged the string it was on from around his neck, and pressed it into the latching mechanism outside.

Rotating it several times, the bars fizzled off and retracted into the ceiling, and both walked inside on their hind legs towards me. For once they were staring at me straight on. For some reason that unnerved me more than being the last one in this area.

I could see it in their eyes, the unsaid taunts and hints of cold indifference towards whatever was about to happen. Tweedledee reached inside his tunic and pulled out a thin gray bar about 1/4th of an inch thick with multiple grooves in its surface, and roughly grabbed my left wrist.

I winched but resisted the urge to complain about it, knowing it wouldn't do me any good. The bar slid into a previously unseen hole in the shackle around my wrist, and with a smooth twist, it clicked once and the chain attached to it disconnected.

I was very much tempted to slug him and try a break away. I beat that urge down as well. Knowing my luck as of lately, the bar would sail out of my reach and Tweedledum would take me out. So I let my arm drop to my side, and when he unlatched my right hand from the chain, did the same with it.

Just to be sure I wasn't actually planning anything, he delivered a very strong punch to my stomach, driving the air from my lungs with a low gasp. A moment later and I was on my side, clutching at my belly, but that hardly lasted as both leaned over and yanked my up by my front paws, and began dragging my out.

Looks like I was about to find out what was going on. And I doubt I'm going to like it.

* * *

Yeah, I didn't like it. They dragged me along what felt like miles of tunnels with dozens upon dozens upon dozens of cells. Not all the Klees were restrained like I had been, some were just free to pace. Others were... tortured. I was lucky. A handful of the guys we past were being literally stretched in all directions, and not all limbs were still fully attached.

Have I mentioned to never travel to Eelong yet? Seriously. I'd take another round of the Quillan Games over this place. Okay, maybe not that bad, but this is close.

The punch was wearing off by the time we emerged at our destination, but that didn't help much because I felt like my stomach had just vanished. It was thankfully day light outside when we appeared at the end of the tunnel, high above the ground below.

What made me feel like this wasn't the height or anything. It was the fact that a large colosseum was stretched out beneath us, and in a nine-by-nine grid a dozen feet tall were five Tangs scattered about. In the seats around whatever this place was were dozens of Klees, silently waiting.

Tweedledee and Tweeldedum dragged me off to the right where a series of stone stairs appeared and curved off towards the center of the colosseum. I began tugging against them, trying to twist around so I could dig my hind paws in, but they just yanked me harder forward.

I did _not_ want to go near this death-trap, but since when did what I want matter in these situations? Eventually we stopped before it and, to my further disgust about things, I finally noticed Durgen standing there waiting. He had a few bandages wrapped around part of his face, and he held a wooden cane in one hand, but otherwise was no different.

"Welcome, Pendragon. I hope you are ready for the end of your life." he rasped lowly, apparently having damaged his vocal cords in the slash.

I merely growled at him in response. He smiled faintly. "Yes, thats right, defiant 'til the end." he said. "The rules are simple: You walk inside, and you die. No exceptions. No Klee has ever taken down a single Tang unarmed." he stated with more than a hint of smugness, knowing my weakened state with these dark-matter embedded shackles on.

As my guards began to drag me past him to the bottom left block in the grid, I remembered something and felt like getting the last jab in before we parted. "Until I arrived." I called across to him, and I could feel Tweedledee tense, likewise recalling what I had done.

Durgen lost his smile and looked angry for a moment, then smirked. But he didn't respond. Tweeldedum reached beneath his tunic and dragged out another of the octagonal stones that had been used on the cells, and pressed it into a matching lock in the wall before me.

But I noticed something odd about it. It had a thin hole in the middle, both the lock and the stone as well. He retrieved his bar and slotted it inside as well, fitting it all the way inside, before rotating both around a mere three times. A low rumble filled the area as the stone sank beneath the surface slowly, but halted at the mid-point.

My guards threw me over it, and one leaned down to rotate the apparent key in the opposite direction. It was already rising up beyond my jumping capabilities when I managed to push up to my feet. "How do I always find myself in these situations??" I asked loudly, shaking my head. Bad move on my part.

I had been wondering how the Tangs got around, or how I was supposed to for that matter, when the middle of the lower wall to my right and ahead slowly began turning around, like a rotating door, and the sharp odor the beasts released hit me. "Great job, Bobby. You attracted two of them."

_/pause Journal #52_.


	7. Chapter 7

**Journal #52** continued.

I had maybe a second and a half to decide what I was about to do. One Tang was coming at me from ahead and the other from my right. Even if I threw myself against one rotating wall and tried to keep it shut, the other would be left wide open for dinner time, and frankly raw Traveler was not an option I was hoping to let on the menu.

My eyes automatically glanced down at the dark-matter imbued shackles still attached to my wrist and just the right synapse went off in my brain. I nearly shot the idea that formed down just as quickly as I had come across it once I realized what I had just thought: _Put my hand in a Tangs mouth_. No, thank you!

Maybe if I smashed it against the wall I could break them, but at most I'd get one off, leaving me still vulnerable. My decision making time came to an end as the rotating walls opened fully and each Tang briefly paused inside, eying me up before attacking.

"Nrgh!" One launched forward at me and slashed with its left set of talons, and I barely managed to throw myself aside, smashing into the wall. The other Tang shot forward at me as the first got its talons caught in the wall for a few moments. I tried to duck beneath its slash but after seeing my last dodging act it seemed ready for me, and slashed across my chest viciously, leaving three deep red gashes.

I gasped as pain rushed through me, and the raptor took the opportunity to slam be back up against the wall. It was about that point when the other Tang got its claws loose and turned on its fellow brethren, apparently angry about its meal(me) getting taken away.

Lovely.

Having two Tangs go at each other inches away from you is about as pleasant as being caught between a couple of rottweilers on steroids. Green blood leaked across the ground as the first to attack me got its teeth into the others neck, and quickly latched on for all it was worth, even as it was slashed repeatedly by the other.

I finally figured out I should take this chance to get away and, stumbling past the two, I used the wall to help keep me steady as I pushed through the rotating wall ahead of me, pressing my body up against it to try and keep those two from coming after me again.

As luck would have it, the problem I though of earlier with this idea decided to rear its ugly, green head. Across from me another section of wall rotated on its access and I found myself staring eye to eye with the third Tang in this nightmare I was living. It sniffed the air, narrowed its eyes, and launched forward just as the victor from my previous square decided to slam into the wall I was up against.

In short, I was thrown into the path of the enemy. I think that surprised it. It slammed into me at about shoulder height and sent me to the ground at its side, while the Tang ended up rolling behind me and tripping up the one charging forward, knocking it over as well.

Another little skirmish erupted between them as the blood on Tang 1 caught the attention of Tang 3. I didn't wait to see who survived this time. I coughed up a small mouthful of blood as the wounds in my chest were driven down into the harsh soil, but managed to push up onto my hands and feet and hightail it through the doorway ahead of me. I _really_ needed to get these shackles off!

I attempted to smash the right shackle against the wall, but it was no good. The dark matter was a lot more resilient than that.

Man, how do I get myself into these situations?

The slash marks in my chest were starting to _seriously_ burn, and I was sure the blood would be attracting the attention of Tang 4 and Tang 5 before much longer. Sure enough from the wall to my right, the hideous odor wafts through and I can hear one of them hissing. This one smashed through the wall so fast the wall was left spinning in place several times.

I didn't even have time to dodge it and got trampled in the process, and let me tell you, I had a few new holes in my back when it was done. On the plus side, its tail did manage to slap me upside the head as it passed.

You know that old saying, knock some sense into someone? Well, that Tang did, and it quite possibly saved my life. 'What am I doing trying to break the _whole shackle_ for??' I demanded mentally, rolling over with a groan of pain and smashing the dark matter fragments against one another.

In a flash of blinding white light and faint tinkle of sound they exploded before me, wisps of black smoke rising up from the remains. It stunned me for a moment, and it had to have given that Tang one heck of a surprise as well, because it began hissing deeper, and looking at me like I was some some sort of danger instead of an easy meal.

With a concentrated effort of will and a low moan of pain, my chest briefly blurred as white mist trailed off from it, and the next thing I knew the damage was gone.

My strength was returning now that the dark matter was off, and I was going to make every use of it I could. With another effort of will, I summoned one of the only weapons that could deal out some serious pain to a Tang.

Its own set of claws, fashioned into a formidable though short-ranged dagger-like tool. I guess the Quillan Games had a little bit of usefulness after all.

_/pause Journal #52_.


	8. Chapter 8

**Journal #52 **continued.

The Tang regarded me with cool, deadly eyes, that hideous odor practically filling up the square. I barely had time to see it's toes digging into the soil sharply for traction before it was coming at me. I growled in defiance and tried to side-step it as I swung my arm around, the dagger of claws grasped tightly in my paw-hand as I did so.

The tips slashed through it's hide remarkably easily and left it's green blood dripping to the ground in a nasty splatter that soaked me up to the lower wrist and even managed to land on my face. It all but shrieked in pain as it's right arm was rendered useless and it slammed into an actually solid wall for once.

But that didn't make any sense with the wall being one that should have rotated. The Tang thrashed it's head in pain and, I suspected, madness. These things had tiny brains, and I was pretty sure this one's had to have taken a heck of a thrashing after that collision.

Before either of us could make a move, an odor so strongly repulsive that it literally knocked me off my feet crawled it's way over the top of the surrounding squares and crashed down into this one like Godzilla setting foot in Tokyo Bay. Not a half bad description either, considering what pushed the wall I had just come through open and stuck it's snarling jaws through.

Most Tangs I've encountered stood about four, five feet tall or so. This one was to a Tang as a lion mountain is to a house cat. It could have stood in for a miniature T-Rex on the set of Jurassic Park! I felt my stomach curling just seeing the saliva dripping off its dozens of angled, yellow teeth.

I scrambled to my feet to back away from it while behind me the normal sized Tang hissed wildly and, I kid you not, _kicked me_ _forward _into this things jaws as a distraction to get away!

Note to self: _I. Hate. Eelong._ This thing wasn't surprised when I soared forward into its gaping maw. The massive eyes just widened in curiosity that a meal was taking steps to be eaten and snapped the jaws down to finish me off in one, maybe two massive crunches.

On instinct I drew the dagger in my hand along the roof of it's mouth, gagging on the smell emanating out of the back of it's throat coupled with the flooring scent coming from it's body. You know, the roof of someones mouth is usually pretty tender stuff. You can cut it with, say, a toothpick that happens to slip.

The roof of _Tangzillas_ mouth was made out of freakin' bedrock. The dagger cracked scraping along the surface like I _did_ have a toothpick in hand! Man, does it not pay to be me most of the time. I tensed up as the lower teeth began to sink into my hip and was about to hightail it out of there with a little mist action when it paused, slimy tongue reaching up to roll along the sharp blade fragments raining down in the mouth.

I heard a deep and low rumble rise from somewhere in it's belly and raise in pitch as it rolled up the neck and into the mouth, and then the tongue slapped me aside like a sledgehammer on steroids. I fell to the ground and landed on my back half a dozen feet away as it stuck it's head deeper into the square and, moving faster than I've seen some birds of prey dive, reached out to snap down on the normal sized Tangs' tail and hind quarters.

It had been furiously trying to crawl up the wall while I was busy distracting it's super giant cousin and let out an agonized shriek as inch and a half long teeth sank into it's skin and muscles. With a single whip-like snap of it's neck the Tang was torn away from the wall and ripped in two.

I'll be the first to admit I've seen a lot of grisly images in my time as a Traveler, but what took place before me right then and there ranks up their in the upper tiers of gore. My stomach rebelled and I managed to curl away from the sight of green blood spraying all over the walls, focusing, as nasty as this is, on the left overs of my dinner a few nights ago rather than the slaughter at my back.

It's a lot harder to block out the sounds and smell, though. Feeling especially weak in the knees, I managed to roll up onto my hands and feet and crouch down for a few moments, forcing my strength to come back through will and a determination to put large amounts of distance between me and the monster behind me.

The crunch of bone almost pushed me over the edge again right before I leaped. I grimaced sharply, spat a few times to clear my mouth, and lunged upward. Now, I mentioned a little while back that when I was thrown in here that the wall had begun to rise beyond my ability to leap over it. That _was_ true then, because of the dark matter shackles restraining my power.

However, now I had nothing keeping me back. My front paw-hands just barely cleared the lip and the claws dug in tightly, drawing a strained growl out of my throat, as my hind claws slashed into the wall and struggled to push me up. '_Come on!_' I thought furiously, another growl slipping out as I began to tug myself up and over the edge.

I nearly lost it when I saw what was resting in the square to my right. I had almost forgotten about Tang's 1 and 3. There wasn't much left to identify them as such, aside from bits and pieces of leftovers Tangzilla hadn't been interested in finishing off. There were a lot of nasty stains soaking into the ground and left up high on the walls as well. _How_ I hadn't heard them getting ripped apart made no sense, unless I had just been blocking the noise out though my focus on Tang 4.

A vague sense of worry came to the back of my mind while I looked it over without yet knowing why as I managed to drag my self up onto the top of the large grid, and just as I had taken a step forward I felt a terrible pain somewhere between my right ankle and right hip. I glanced down slowly _Ala horror movie_ and saw,_ much to my delight_, that Tangzilla had successfully finished off the last normal sized Tang in the area and decided to finish up on dessert- _me_. Talons the size of scimitars had just slashed a nice gaping hole in the back of my right ankle, quadriceps, so on and so forth.

In effect, I was just hamstrung in one leg. Joy. Oh, and _that_ was probably why that sense of worry had been there. While my eyes were busy processing the gore, my brain was processing the fact that no body was left in that square to be connected to the neck and jaws of Tangzilla. Obviously, it had shuffled forward once I made a run for the wall to get in position to finish me off.

I suppose my earlier unspoken thought that it had believed me to be too much of a threat to it's throat and stomach lining was no longer true. My leg gave out on me and I pitched thankfully forward and into the middle square. I grunted as I hit on one shoulder and heard a crack. 'Great landing, Bobby.' Tangzilla bellowed from behind the wall and a new worry ran through me. 'What if that thing can break down a wall?' my fears were proven true as a cracking sound began coming from it.

'_Time to heal_!' panic rushing through my system helped get me back on track and the damaged sections of my body faded into white mist for a couple of seconds before reforming all patched up. I shuffled to my feet just as the wall exploded inward and knocked me right back off them, crashing into the wall in front of me and leaving a nice Bobby-shaped dent in it. I groaned and collapsed to the ground, rolling onto my back by accident and the groan died in my throat.

Tangs are in general shaped like a raptor. I had only gotten a glimpse of this thing from the wall, being more focused on the mouth since it had been about to engulf me at that moment, but if I had to liken a shape to it I'd say it was part snapping turtle and part T-Rex. It didn't have a shell, but it crouched down on all fours like a turtle, and the way it's head had been capable of rocketing forward plus the flap of skin around the neck seemed to indicate it could compress and extend it's neck easily. From the bulkier back legs I already knew it could rise up briefly to stand on them and maneuver the front around with good reach.

It's whole skin seemed knotted up with muscle and as it moved forward, I knew this was a predator that had probably come out of some ancient time on Eelong. The hows of why it was still here were probably pretty simple; Saint Dane had imported it across the eons specifically to kill me.

I'd almost feel special knowing he was going to this kind of effort to have me killed, if only it _wasn't to have me killed. _Thinking about the demon Traveler finally spurred me onward. I knew of another ancient predator that, while probably not being a perfect match for Tangzilla here, should at least give me a good shot of tearing it up some if I transformed swiftly enough. And then just as quickly as that came to me a frown came over my face and I shot it down.

"No." I didn't know why at that time, but my mouth moved of it's own accord. I refused to indulge in Saint Dane's sadistic game to kill or be killed, to force my hand and reveal the Travelers presence to the people of Eelong before Ravinia could show up. And yeah, I'd definitely be revealing our presence, if I hadn't already. The only way to deal with this... "Looks like I've gotta die."

_/End Journal #52._


	9. Chapter 9

*** Second Earth ***

Standing in the shadows of a nearby house, Nevva Winter watched the two former acolytes of Bobby Pendragon with a sour taste in her mouth. It had been the closest encounter yet in the time since the territories had been restored and so called _wrongs_ righted by the Last Traveler.

The poor fool had sought to change things from occurring without even realizing the mostly linear path of time. By merely choosing to go back he had set into motion a completely new revision of events and the reactions of each individual whom mattered _to_ those events.

He had unknowingly revived his nemesis and rival in the process, the two with the most knowledge over how to manipulate Halla's workings. '_Oh_, the damage you had done to us before your treachery to Press's teachings revealed the truth!' she thought, and not for the first time since being re-stationed here.

After four territories and a terrible struggle in the re-sequenced events, it was to all be averted by returning shortly prior to the point of original divergence on _Eelong_ and settling in to wait for him to arrive the second time and set things into motion, then skipping forward once again.

Thus: Her teacher and partner departed to and remained in the past, while throwing her forward after their revival to the end of their original loss and ultimately _leapfrogging_ right over the changes rolling forward. Nevva was, for all intents and purposes, separated by an insurmountable wall once she arrived here. No doubt her past self from the newly altered chain of events would be recruited, allowing for her to co-exist before and after the divergence for a time, but soon enough the changes would sweep through and erase her from this rendition of the _present_.

Her ring was already glowing weakly all the time, and her earlier memories were beginning to grow foggy and distorted. 'And this is all _your_ fault, you miserable Traveler!' she thought in anger, gripping her hands tightly together to keep from doing something stupid-- such as killing his former acolytes.

* * *

Mark's mind remained occupied on that strange jumble of notes over the next week. He was able to keep it under control around his parents and for the most part at school, but once or twice he caught himself humming louder than preferred and he would grow flustered and realize it was always in the presence of the girl he had almost walked into.

At last he couldn't take it any longer. He tracked her down after school and intercepted before either arrived at her house. "_You!_" she stated in a tone that, quite frankly, worried him. "Listen up! I don't want to see you sneaking around school and embarrassing me with that _stupid_, _stupid_ song of yours any more! I've had it with my friends and their not-so-subtle comments about our relationship!" she snarled.

Mark took a step back at the ferocity of her words. Without even letting him get a chance to turn tail and flee as he had before, she crossed the distance between them quickly, wrapped one fist into his shirt tightly and added "_Got it!?_" "I-I got it! I-I got i-it!" he stammered rapidly. "_Good!_" releasing him and marching past, she continued toward home and, unknown to Mark, tried to feel less like a jerk for her reaction toward him.

He turned enough to watch her go and grimaced nervously, fishing into his backpack for a few carrot sticks before heading for his own house. He hesitated a few blocks down until he felt his nerves calm down enough to greet his parents without stammering.

* * *

Nevva's raven form descended to a low hanging branch across the street from where the encounter had taken place. 'Trouble brewing? All the better!' her mind leaped ahead to any way to keep them even further apart. A dark smile played across the ravens maw as she took flight again with a set of ideas rolling through her mind.

Foremost among them? Assuming Courtney's form and _really_ showing the boy just what a one-sided rage was. And then, of course, returning the gesture in kind to Courtney as Mark. If _that_ did not destroy their relationship before it could develop, she didn't know what could.

* * *

The two avoided one another. Mark forced himself not to think of the notes that had given him so much trouble when at school. When the weekend came again, again on a Friday as before, Mark found himself once more confronted by an angry female he had believed was likewise trying to stay as far away from him as possible.

She caught him emerging from the all but abandoned bathroom-turned-sanctuary. "What--" he began, but she pushed him back through the door and into the bathroom again. He stumbled on the door frame and crashed to the dark tiled floor, dropping his glasses to the ground in the process. In three quick steps through the door her foot descended on and ground them into a rather fine powder with a low crunch.

"Hey!" he exclaimed in surprise and panic. "I thought you got the message last week, Dimond, but apparently that thick skull of yours didn't process things clearly enough." she spoke in a sharp pitch he had never heard before. She leaned down, grabbed him by the hair, and yanked him up to his feet at an awkward angle. He yelped in pain and scrambled at her wrists, but she released and pushed him backwards again.

This time he hit a stall and was flung back at her. She dropped down and swept his legs out from under him. His hands couldn't get under him soon enough and another crunch filled the stale air as his nose was broken. Mark howled and rolled over onto his side, clutching at the cartilage painfully and trying to staunch the rush of blood. "Have you _got it_ yet?" she demanded. "_Stay the _hell _away from me!_" he screeched back sharply, rolling away from her as best he could and squinting through the tears with both hands still pressed to his shattered nose.

She tsked at him. "I warned you before. Now I'm enforcing the warning. If you so much as glance in my direction again, I'll _castrate_ you, _got it_?!" she snarled. "Screw you!" he spat out, anger briefly giving him courage that would fade to fear again soon enough. She shook her head disgustedly and turned heel. "And if you breath _one word_ of this to anyone, and I mean _anyone_, I'll find you and make sure this session looks like a peck on the cheek by comparison! _Got it_!" she warned at the door, pausing long enough to say her parting shot, and then departing.

Mark felt his anger deflate almost instantly. Pain over-rode it, along with panic over what he was going to say about his wounds and loss of glasses to his parents, and then how he was going to spend the next few days doing his absolute best to memorize and avoid Courtney Chetwynde in the future.

He didn't yet realize that he knew her last name without having heard it before, or that her class schedule would come to mind fairly quickly and with more detail than by any rights it should have. But that would come in due time.

_/end Second Earth_


End file.
